Coming off of a whirlwind year in 2021, Budget Blinds was pedal to the metal in January 2022.
They have been so grateful to continue to serve Manitobans and continuously grow their business with customers wanting to update their spaces, renovating, and ‘working from home’ challenges. Sue and Gord Swarbrick, and the local team at Budget Blinds had no shortage of consultations with clients and that is still true today. Add in, them renovating their showroom located at 381 Park Avenue East in Brandon, and you would wonder how they have time to sleep!
As with anything, you are bound to run into a few hiccups from time to time and that is what happened with the recent changes to the blind industry by the Corded Window Covering Regulations (CWCR). Created last year, but going into effect May 1, 2022, new regulations will omit any window covering with a cord that is exposed. This not only includes pull cords that are secured, but it also comprises of cords on the backside or between slats of blinds. Some of the most popular selections in the market will be affected, as vendors create modifications to existing products that will need to pass the CWCR testing for child safety.
Over the course of recent months, Sue and Gord have been working tirelessly on renovating their showroom. The restructure that the blind industry will see has been felt here as well. While working on bringing in new products to showcase for clients, they have been hitting a few walls due to the elimination of product lines affected. But don’t fret, there are still plenty of options to choose from!
The show stopper in their space is a large floating island used to store their samples. It features a Stone Coat resin countertop created by Gord and is the perfect place to get inspired. Their “blind wall” is always a favourite, as it showcases a large variety of options from pull-down to motorized blinds. Sue is currently working on fabricating their drapery wall, which will see completion in the coming months. A wonderful new addition to the showroom is their pillow wall!
Pillow Talk by Budget Blinds will feature hundreds of pillow covering options, currently in the most common 18” and 20” size. The wall will consist of 40 sets of pillows that will be in stock and available to take home that day. You can choose to purchase them with a polyester form fill or without, which will work perfectly with the pillow subscription they are currently developing. This gives customers the benefit of choosing pillow coverings they can change throughout the year with season or trend. All pillow coverings are made in Manitoba by Deasil Custom Sewing. More future plans will include the option of adding embellishments to your pillow or using a luxurious down filling. You will be able to browse from hundreds of fabric samples in order to create your perfect custom pillow.
Sue is excited to announce that ‘The Warehouse Workshop’ is open and running events, held by local artisans. The workshops consist of mosaics, painting, resin, and more. This creative space is available to be used for fundraisers or by groups; you can find them on Instagram @ware.houseworkshop and FB at The Warehouse Workshop for upcoming events. -DYH
